News from Ireland - news from around the 32 counties

The incident, which could have resulted in a serious accident, is being investigated by local Gardaí (police). It occurred shortly before 6 p.m. on Saturday evening, after Santa had joined Newbridge Mayor Murty Aspell to switch on the Christmas lights. Following the music and festivities, Santa prepared to leave the town but first had to travel along Edward Street as it wasn’t possible to actually turn the engine on the street.
[Source: Kildare Nationalist]

KILKENNY

A number of students from a local school have received counselling after witnessing the horrific death of a man decapitated by a Dublin bus two weeks ago.

Eoghan Dudley (28) died of devastating head injuries when he went under the wheels of the 15-ton double-decker vehicle. It is alleged that he was pushed, and a 29-year-old man has since been charged with his manslaughter.

Around 100 students from C.B.S. Kilkenny, accompanied by their teachers, were in Dublin City Center Thursday, December 6, at the time on a class trip. They were near the busy junction opposite Trinity College on Nassau Street during rush hour, when the disaster happened.
[Source: Kilkenny People]

LAOIS

Garda (police) mountain bike patrols of Portlaoise’s housing estates and public areas are to continue during the winter months.

Sergeant Tom Walton told the Portlaoise Joint Policing Committee meeting that patrols were conducted over the last few months.

He outlined that the Community Policing Unit specifically targeted primary and secondary schools delivering talks on crime and the consequences of juveniles getting involved in crime, road safety, bullying, and cyber safety.
[Source: Leinster Express]

LEITRIM

The close knit Mullies and wider Manorhamilton communities have been devastated by the deaths of three members of the same family in a house fire in the early hours of Saturday morning, December 8.

Dessie McDonald (75), his wife Patsy (77) and their daughter, Patricia (34), were sleeping in their two-story home at Lisnabrack near Manorhamilton when the fire broke out downstairs. A passing taxi driver noticed the blaze and raised the alarm shortly after 2 a.m.

Fire services from Manorhamilton, Sligo and Carrick-on-Shannon all attended the blaze, which is thought to have started in the kitchen. However, they were unable to save the family.

It is understood that Mr. McDonald bought the home a number of years ago and had substantially refurbished the property. He returned to his native north Leitrim to live following his retirement from his job as a bus driver in New York. Mr. McDonald was joined by his wife Josie and daughter Patricia, and the couple’s two other daughters lived in the U.S. and the West of Ireland.
[Source: Leitrim Observer]

LIMERICK

A victory for the working class man was heralded in Limerick Auction Rooms, after a Limerick Soviet five shilling note was returned back to its “rightful owners.”

The Limerick Trades Council had begun a campaign in the days leading up to the auction to keep the note from 1919 in Limerick.

Last Wednesday afternoon the council beat off competition from three other bidders to take home the note to the Mechanics Institute on Hartstonge Street.

Mike McNamara, president of the Limerick Trades Council, revealed after the auction that they were prepared to bid as high as $4,580, but after a few minutes of bidding, it was theirs for €1,830.
[Source: Limerick Leader]
LONGFORD

A County Longford mother has claimed child benefit cuts announced in the budget may force her family below the poverty line in the lead up to Christmas.

Bernie McCann, a mother of four from Drumlish, was last week counting the cost of financial adjustments announced by Finance Minister Michael Noonan.

Faced with a $13 cut to her monthly allowance, Bernie is also counting withdrawals made to care grants, as she also occupies the role of carer to her son Micheal, who suffers from a rare blood disorder.

“I am down [$50] (a month),” she said, as she glossed over the finer points of the budget with the Leader. “My oldest (son) was just taken off me (in terms of child benefit) as he has just turned 18 so it is a serious cut to our family.”
[Source: Longford Leader]

LOUTH

A concerned Dundalk mother has told the Democrat that she fears for the health of her children who have to run an assault course of discarded needles on their way to school.

The Barrack Street-based mother, who didn’t wish to be named for risk of reprisal, said that her children came home and told her of lethal needles that have been discarded in the area of Barrack Street.

Speaking to the Dundalk Democrat, the concerned mother said: “There are junkies in the area who are using and discarding needles in plain sight of children. I had to go and kick needles into the gutter. It’s desperate.”
[Source: Dundalk Democrat]
MAYO